Canberra (BBC): Children’s growing use of mobile devices may hamper their learning of key technology skills, says a report. An Australian educational body noted a “significant decline” in IT literacy among some students since 2011. Its report said children learned very different skills on tablets and smartphones to the basic technology skills required for the workplace. Changes to the way that ICT was being taught in Australian schools could explain some of the decline, it said. The report added that significant alterations in the types of devices people use could also be behind some of the changes. The report by Australia’s National Assessment Programme looked at technology literacy among two groups of children - one just leaving primary school and another in its fourth year of secondary school. More than 10,500 students took part. It compared digital literacy scores from 2011 with those from a survey carried out in late 2014. “This report shows a significant decline in their ICT literacy performance when compared to previous cycles,” it said. Both age groups saw a decline in IT proficiencies, it added. Statistics revealed that the average performance of 16-year-olds in the 2014 group was lower than the average in any other year.